Norfolk, Va. – Developers of a hotel and conference center in downtown Norfolk are pursuing a Hilton franchise.

That was one of the updates Bruce Thompson, CEO of Gold Key/PHR, gave to Norfolk city council Tuesday afternoon.

He says they are going for a contemporary design that will be very different from anything else in the region. “We think it’s time that Norfolk comes into the 21st century. We think that we can do something exciting and be respectful of the heritage and the history, but we want to do something when people come in that they look at and they go ‘wow!'” said Thompson.

They have signed a new contract with Cooper Carry, an architecture firm based in Atlanta.

The building will be 23 stories with 50,000 square feet of meeting space, 290 rooms and 3 restaurants.

It’s estimated to create about 500 jobs during construction and about 250 permanent jobs.